I have no idea what prompted this, but what if ability score modifiers in D&D were handled in four-point bands instead of two-point bands? That is, instead of Score Modifier 1 -5 2..3 -4 4..5 -3 6..7 -2 8..9 -1 10..11 +0 12..13 +1 14..15 +2 16..17 +3 18..19 +4 …
I just received this from Emily (‘Bruno’ below), the DM for the Kobold Kommandos epic. Berkun: Wait, Blessing adds to damage? Harald387: Every roll you make. Every time dice shake. Every crit you make, every feint you fake, I’ll be Blessing you. Bruno: Oh baby can’t you seeee? Your crits …
I have always liked the idea of specialist wizards, but have never really been fond of the implementation. A couple barred schools of magic (only one if specializing in Divination, because it sucks), in exchange for an extra spell slot per spell level and a +2 bonus to Spellcraft checks …
Range increments in D&D 3.x have always struck me as a little strange. First and foremost, they are basically meaningless most of the time. Almost all combats I’ve seen in the D&D 3.x era (and most of those before that) almost everything happens within one range increment. Most battle mats …
I’ve been having conversations with a couple of Echelon d20 site members, held in the posts and pages they’re working on. It seems kind of strange to be chatting back and forth in comments embedded in the post content. I’ve set up a forum to hold discussions on design and …
I was thinking recently about magic items and their design, and specifically about complaints I have seen about them. D&D 3.x evolved to the point where certain magic items were expected. This led to some distinct complaints. Complaints Magic items are boring. I have to agree. The customary set of …
There were some remarkably good posts in my reading this week. Hall of Fame Additions Draconic Shades Matt of the Land of Nod described half a dozen ‘shades’, variations on the colors of the chromatic dragons. Shades of Red Shades of Blue Shades of Green Shades of White Shades of …
Genius-level monsters (and other opponents) have always been a problem for me. Talysman at The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms suggests a mechanism for handling it. The original post “I Meant to Do That” was originally posted almost a year ago (sigh I still mean to go back and read this site …
Brendan at Untimately posted a list of 20 Quick Questions about rules as applied in your campaign. I’ve put this off for weeks, but here are my answers for my next campaign. Keith’s Westmarch-Style Campaign Rules I’ve spoken before about wanting to run a Westmarches-style sandbox campaign. I was planning …